Yes, Jesus actually
lived. No credible historian today would deny the existence of a carpenter
& teacher from Nazareth named Jesus. The Bible gives his life history,
but several non-biblical historians of his era also mention him. Josephus
(AD 37-95) the Jewish historian wrote about him, and so did Roman historians
Tacitus (AD 55-120) and Seutonius (born AD 120.)

#9-
"Did Jesus Ever Claim To Be The Son Of God?"

Yes, several times.
Once when attacked by his enemies, Jesus said, "I and the Father
are one." Then he spoke of the miracles he had done, and asked
"For which of these do you stone me?"
Their answer was, "We are not stoning you for these (miracles)
but because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (John 10:33.)
On another occasion they tried to kill Jesus because "he was even
calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." (John
5:18.)

Another time when
his enemies tried to kill him, he had said, "Before Abraham was
born, I am!" - claiming to be the "Jehovah" of Exodus
3:14. (John 8:58.)
He also said to his own disciples, "Anyone who has seen me has
seen the Father." (John 14:9.) Even at his trial, when the High
Priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed
One?" Jesus answered, "I am And you will see the
Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the
clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62.)
Jesus definitely claimed to be God's Son.

#8-
"Why Did People Believe His Claims; Weren't They Just Superstitious?"

People believed Jesus'
claims because he proved them. How? By fulfilling all the Old Testament
prophecies about the coming of God's own Son-the "Messiah."
For example, the prophet Micah (720 BC) predicted that Messiah would be
born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 & Matthew 2:3-6.)
Isaiah (740 BC) foresaw that Christ would heal the sick (Isaiah 53:4 &
Matthew 8:17), and that he would be born of a virgin, and would be called
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace." (Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6.) Isaiah also gave an extensive
picture of the crucifixion of Christ 700 years before it happened! (Isaiah
chapter 53.)

Daniel the prophet
(600 BC) predicted that the Messiah would come during the Roman Empire
(the fourth empire from Daniel's day) and establish God's Kingdom (Daniel
2:44-45.) Jesus fulfilled it. And the prophet Zechariah (520 BC) amazingly
predicted that the Messiah would be sold for 30 pieces of silver, which
would be thrown back into the temple (Zech. 11:12-13.)
Also, in Psalm 16:10, King David (1,000 BC) predicted that Messiah would
be raised from the dead (see Acts 2:27-32.) People in Jesus' day believed
his claims because he fulfilled Divine prophecy.

#7-
"Since The Bible Was Written So Long Ago, How Do We Know We Have
The Words Jesus Actually Spoke?"

Because of the wealth
of carefully hand-copied manuscripts-more than for any other ancient work.
There are 13,000 ancient manuscripts for the New Testament alone! Compare
that to only 7 for the works of Plato, 5 for Aristotle, 8 for Herodotus,
and only 9 for Euripedes.
After years of study, scholar F.F. Bruce says, "There is no body
of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good
textual attestation as the New Testament."

#6-
"Did Jesus Actually Work Miracles?"

Yes, Jesus worked
scores of miracles right in front of his enemies, yet they never denied
it. And he worked so many miracles, that they can't be explained by "mass
hypnosis" or "emotionally overwrought witnesses."
His enemies' only defense was to accuse him of working miracles by Satan's
power, but Jesus answered, "Any kingdom divided against itself
will be ruined " (Luke 11:17.)
It wouldn't make sense for Jesus to do good, like casting out demons,
by Satan's power-Satan would be destroying his own kingdom.

It's amazing that
people today will deny that Jesus, or his disciples, ever worked miracles,
yet no one in Jesus' day ever denied it. His enemies never denied it.
And those who saw his disciples work miracles never denied it-they said,
"Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding
miracle, and we cannot deny it." (Acts 4:16.)

#5-
"Did Jesus Really Die On The Cross, Or Just Faint And Awaken Later?"

No one in Jesus'
day, including his enemies, denied that he died on the cross.
After suffering an entire night of trials and beatings, and then being
forced to carry the beam of his own cross, Jesus couldn't have survived
the horrors of crucifixion. Besides that, he was crucified by professionals-four
Roman soldiers whose job was to kill people. Letting a prisoner escape
death would cost them their own lives-They wouldn't be fooled by one who
just fainted.

#4-
"Did Jesus Actually Rise From The Dead, Or Did His Disciples Just
Hide The Body?"

On the third day
after his death, Jesus literally came back from the dead. His spirit returned
to his dead body (John 20:1-18.)
The disciples couldn't have moved Jesus' body; Pontius Pilate had posted
a guard and sealed the tomb. But when Jesus came back to life, these guards
were paralyzed with fear. Later, Jewish leaders paid them to say they
had fallen asleep and the disciples grabbed Jesus' body (Matthew 28:11-15.)
But falling asleep on guard duty meant the death penalty, yet these guards
were never prosecuted.
How could Jesus' disciples have moved his body without overpowering the
guards? And if the guards were asleep, how did they know what happened
to the body?

#3-
"Didn't The Disciples Just Mistake Jesus' Ghost For A Resurrection?"

No, Jesus actually
appeared in bodily form. He spent over a month-40 days-with hundreds of
his disciples after his resurrection. He ate meals with them, taught them
and readied them to be his witnesses (Acts 1:3-8.) On one appearance Jesus
said to them, "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have" and then he ate fish with them (Luke
24:37-43.)

#2- "If Jesus Was The Son Of God, Why Didn't
Everyone Believe Him?"

In the Parable of
the Sower, Jesus said people fail to believe because Satan comes and steals
the good news out of the hearts of hearers (Luke 8:12.)
He also said that religion itself can become a barrier to belief-to a
group of religious Pharisees, Jesus said "you nullify the word
of God for the sake of your traditions." (Matthew 15:6.) An insincere
heart can poison the well of one's belief.

#1-
"If Jesus Was Really The Son of God, Why Did He Let Himself Be Killed?"

Because his death
and resurrection had a purpose.
After his resurrection, Jesus told his own disciples, "Everything
must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses and the
Prophets and the Psalms This is what is written: The Christ will
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness
of sins will be preached in his name to all nations " (Luke
24:44-48.)

The purpose of Christ's
life, death and resurrection was to repair our broken relationship to
the Father-the "forgiveness of sins." As the Holy Spirit later
said through the Apostle Paul, "For what I received I passed on
to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures By this gospel (good news) you are
saved "(1Cor.
15:1-4.)

Since every human
being born after Adam's likeness has sinned-or "fallen short of
the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)-everybody needs their alienation
from God repaired. Isaiah said that "your iniquities have separated
you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you "
(59:2.)

Christ substituted
himself for us-he went to hell on the cross so we don't have to go there
ourselves. He was the sinless Son of God, yet he absorbed our sins so
we could be free. All the guilt and shame of every sin-whether child molestation,
murder, adultery, theft, lying, etc-all sin and shame were placed on him.
If you believe that he is the Son of God, raised from the dead, and that
he did all this just for you, it will change you. You'll be, as Jesus
described it, "born again" (John 3:3-18.)
He also said, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16.)

Are you such a believer?
Do you have questions? If you need help in finding your walk with Christ,
contact us.